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Five things José Mourinho must do to stop the rot at Manchester United | Jamie Jackson

Three defeats in eight days have blown apart José Mourinho’s encouraging start at Old Trafford, but whether the problem is Rooney, Pogba, the defence or the midfield, the manager needs solutions, and fastAt the moment José Mourinho is a manager confused regarding his best XI or Manchester United would not have lost three consecutive games and the Portuguese suffer the run for a first time since his Porto days. The Portuguese’s indecisiveness is quaint for a glittering career built on the requisite ruthlessness. For the defeat against Manchester City in came Henrikh Mkhitaryan for a full debut despite an injury during the international break, and Jesse Lingard, who had not featured since the Community Shield for the same reason. This...

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Manchester United’s midfield left in a mess by Wayne Rooney’s deeper role | Paul Doyle

The United manager picked Wayne Rooney in a deep-lying midfield role ahead of Morgan Schneiderlin, Michael Carrick and Daley Blind and after a deserved defeat at Watford, it was very hard to understand whyJosé Mourinho had to wait a long time to fulfil his ambition of becoming manager of Manchester United and now that he is at Old Trafford he needs still more patience. From himself, firstly, as his fall at Chelsea last season suggests there is a risk of him unravelling if he allows himself to become too frustrated by the inadequacies he has inherited at United. This he knows, which is why he was a picture of practiced calm as he explained after the defeat at Vicarage Road...

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